How to mix salt?

[Dylan5359]

I added salt to my 5 gallon future Dwarf Seahorse tank. It all mixed quite well considering all my efforts to stir it. Just a small amount lies on the aquarium floor. Any tips to mix this? Also its a little foggy. Just a little though.

-Dylan

 

[trackfast]

What is the salinity of the water now?

 

[Dylan5359]

1.019/1.020 not sure its that accurate though

-Dylan

 

[trackfast]

Are you using a hydrometer?

 

[Dylan5359]

yeah. swinging arm hydrometer I must add. I ordered a standard thermometer and hydrometer off petco and it should be here soon.

-Dylan

 

[trackfast]

Try siphoning out the salt and then agitating the water it's with until the salt dissolves. Can you cancel the hydrometer and get a refractometer?

 

[Dylan5359]

no. its being shipped. But ill buy a refractometer for the future.

-Dylan

 

[joy13]

Put a power head in the tank and let it do the mixing this time. It is always a good idea to mix your saltwater over night at least so it dissolves completely. I have noticed some salts always leave a deposit in the bucket I never add that to my tank.

 

[mr_X]

yep. mix it in a different container with a power head and/or air stone over night. never add salt, or partially mixed water to the tank with livestock.

 

[Dylan5359]

but its stuck at the bottom of my tank? I tried siphoning. No success -__-

-Dylan

 

[mr_X]

you should have flow in the tank. if it's not mixing that little bit of salt at the bottom, you don't have enough.

 

[Dylan5359]

i have a plenn plax small world filter. it produces good flow. enough for dwarf seahorses. it just doesn't directly hit the bottom. Over the last few hours. The salt on the bottom decresed. just a little now that i don't think the flow or heater can fix.

-Dylan

 

[mr_X]

again, if you have salt on the bottom that doesn't mix up, you don't have enough flow. a heater isn't going to help to melt salt.

 

[Dylan5359]

what do you suggest I do to increase the flow? i thought it was enough because its a dwarf seahorse tank. what do you think?

-Dylan

 

[melosu58]

As mentioned above never mix salt in your tank. Mix it in a five gallon bucket and let it set 24 to 48 hours before adding to tank. Too caustic to add straight to a tank.

 

[mr_X]

you may need a supplemental power head. while sea horses don't need powerful flow, a healthy tank has no dead spots. i am not saying to make it a tsunami in there, but you don't want any places where uneaten food or poop could settle.

 

[Dylan5359]

yeah to late now. But I'll remember that for future use.

-Dylan

 

[Dylan5359]

you may need a supplemental power head. while sea horses don't need powerful flow, a healthy tank has no dead spots. i am not saying to make it a tsunami in there, but you don't want any places where uneaten food or poop could settle.

supplemental powerhead? ill look into it. do you think i should dump the filter altogether? or keep the mini filter with the supp. powerhead? sorry for the dump of questions.

-Dylan

 

[mr_X]

you could keep the filter. i haven't seen the tank, but i'm guessing both would work ok.